


Heartbreaking Guilt

by ashgcy



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashgcy/pseuds/ashgcy
Summary: 353 days is a long time to think someone is gone forever. Mike is feeling a lot of different, but similar, kinds of hurt in that time. It has a happy ending though! Poor Mike though





	Heartbreaking Guilt

* * *

**I.**

It had only been a week. It had only been a week with her, and even now, nearly a year after she disappeared, Mike didn’t understand why it hurt so much. It felt like he was carrying the weight of losing someone who was his world. Someone he lost in the blink of an eye.

 

**II.**

The first time it hurt was when she turned to say goodbye. At those words, his chest burned, and the fear he saw in her eyes made his heart break into pieces. So this was what heartbreak felt like, Mike thought, as she turned away to face the monster. Tears trickled down his face as she rose her hand, and let out a blood curdling scream. The scream shattered the pieces of Mike’s heart, and scattered them across the universe, and like how the dust drifted gently to the floor, it revealed an emptiness that could only be rivalled by the pain he now experienced. Mike was hit with a second wave of pain. This pain started from his head, and spread out across his entire being.

“ **Why** ,” it screamed, over and over, louder and louder. Mike felt the guilt overwhelm him, a billion shards of broken promises and crushed dreams embedding themselves into his soul. He ignored the concerned looks of his friends as tears rolled down his cheeks in flowing streams. He rose to his feet, ignoring the sharp wave of agony that made a psychic shove feel like a gentle push.

“El?! El where are you?!” he screamed, as he ran to where she disappeared into that cloud of dust, his vision already blurry from his grief. Ignoring his friend’s calls, he ran out of the classroom, rushing through the school’s halls that now seemed so much darker without her light. His shattered heart screamed two different cries, one of loss, and one of remorse. Mike gathered his strength and continued to run down the deserted hallways, bursting through every door to search for a sign she was there. A sign he yearned to see. Mike finally ran out of the school, and while the gravity of his pain was willing him to crumble, he kept his composure on his lonely ride home. He snuck into the basement, and used what was left of his strength to haul himself into the blanket fort. As the world around him faded into a mound of blankets, Mike felt a lingering sense of warmth. He smelled a faint hint of sweetness, the lingering presence of someone who he would never forget. A scared girl who grew up in the confines of a laboratory. A scared girl who escaped into the woods. A scared girl who was brought to him by fate. A scared girl who accepted him despite her fear. A girl who’s name was El. A girl who was more than just a girl, she was gentle and sweet, kind and funny, downright beautiful, and she felt like home. Mike quickly chastised himself, but his heart told him that what he thought was true, as an anguish that could only be compared to exploding into dust to protect the ones you love bloomed in his chest. As the pain throbbed through his body, Mike felt his consciousness slip away due to sheer exhaustion. A single thought echoed through his mind, and would keep echoing for another three hundred and fifty-three days...

“ _ **Why**_ ”

 

**III.**

As the demodog flew through the window, Mike grabbed the first thing he saw, which turned out to be a candlestick,and tried to look menacing. A nagging thought pulled at him, but he gently pushed it away. There was no way it could be her. He lost her _three hundred and fifty-three_ days ago. He had all but given up hope, clinging to the ruins of a broken fort that still held the imprint of the only one that could fill the gaping hole in his chest. However, Mike was powerless to the hope that slowly crept in when the chain of the lock was pushed off of its hinge. There was no way in the upside down that a demodog could do that! But what if it wasn’t her, what if it was something else. Something more sinister. Mike remembered how the demodog flew through the window like a ragdoll, and was scared at the concept of something powerful enough to perform such a feat. Mike braced himself for as many possibilities he could think of, ready to swing the candlestick as hard as he could the moment the door swung ajar. However, the sight of the figure that stepped through caused Mike’s candlestick to drop to the floor. He stepped forward, the biggest smile he could muster spreading from cheek to cheek.

And then….

Mike felt true happiness for the first time in almost a year.

 

**IV.**

The previous year had been challenging for Mike and El. Many tears had fallen, and there were so many long sleepless nights. There had been pain at almost every turn, and yet, through their separation, they learned how it felt to love someone. Their separation also brought the pain of heartbreak and the agony of guilt. While one knew the other was so close, yet so far away, the other thought he’d never see her again, and how he should’ve done something, anything, to save her. However, they were back together again, and as much as the pain hurt, they had each other now. According to the rest of the party, if they weren’t kissing they were hopelessly tangled in each other’s arms, and the only thing that could separate them these days was a crowbar. Apparently, Hopper had overheard this, and Will swore he kept one in the back of his police truck, just in case. Mike was almost certain Hopper would never have the heart to use the supposed crowbar on his adoptive daughter.

But Hopper using it on him?

That was just one more thing to worry about.


End file.
